With his natural bandage applied, he ascended the bank and nuzzled Pepper. She returned the affection, and the two returned to the cover of the woods.
* * *
Mick’s head lolled around, giving him a peripheral of Cunningham’s chamber. He had given up on holding his head up because each time he mustered the effort, he practically concussed himself when his neck gave out.
Today he was in for something new. His arms and legs were strapped to a chair. This was the first time he would be upright for whatever followed. Cunningham stood in front of him with a hand on her chin, like an artist appraising her canvas.
Mick would have rather been lying down. Many of the blisters on his back had ruptured and were oozing. Just the pressure on the wounds was enough to make him want to pass out, but Cunningham wouldn’t allow it. He had spent so much time with her he hardly even noticed the bleach smell.
His chest was a patchwork of bruises and cuts. As bad as his wounds looked, he was hardly damaged compared to Jem. Cunningham seemed to have a special kind of hatred for Jem.
She put a hand on Mick’s forehead and lifted his head so he had to look at her. Her white uniform was spotless, which meant he was in for a long day. Cunningham squeezed his jaw open and put a small square film onto his tongue. It reminded Mick of a breath strip, but he didn’t think she cared much about his breath.
The beats of his heart grew faster, while his body felt warm and fuzzy, almost blissful. His mouth dried up; he would have done just about anything for a drink of water.
Cunningham ran a small penlight in front of his eyes and then let his head drop. Mick felt a growing pit of dread forming in his gut. His breath caught short and his heart raced. He was doomed.
Cunningham let out a cackling laugh.
A witch must be in the room, Mick thought. Long shadows stretched across the spotless kitchen.
Cunningham lifted Mick’s head by the hair. Her eyes flicked between his. Mick wished he could curl up like an armadillo and hide.
“You’d better buckle up—this is going to be a long trip,” Cunningham said, showing him the sharp edge of her razor knife.
* * *
Kade knelt shirtless while Number Five tended to his wounds. His rubber knuckles hung from the breakaway chain around his neck. Tiny had always been the one to patch him up, and Number Five’s touch was unfamiliar. He didn’t say anything as Five did her best to put him back together. He was lost in his own mind, which was a dangerous place to be.
Had he just avoided the Tribe entirely, Zack wouldn’t be here. Tiny wouldn’t be acting so weird. He wouldn’t have to deal with being jealous, and everything would have stayed normal. Tiny was often mad at him, but this was different. She wasn’t just mad. She was mad, tapered in disappointment, and dunked in disgust.
The only idea he had to make things right was to give up fighting with her about going into DC, but even that wouldn’t be enough. There was no get-out-of-jail-free card on this one.
He flinched as Number Five pinched together the thumb-claw gash on his wrist.
“I’ll patch this one up, but Tiny will need to stitch it when she gets back,” Number Five said.
Kade just gave her a nod. Tiny and X were moving the two vehicles to another location. Tiny had said they were going to take a while to make sure it was a safe place since they wouldn’t be close enough to the horses to guard them. No one said it, but everyone knew she was just looking to get away from Kade.
Number Five closed up the med bag. “You’re as good as I can do, Humpty.”
“Thanks,” Kade said, staring at the trees in front of him.
She walked away with the bag, and Kade didn’t bother moving even enough to put his shirt back on. He sat still as a monk in meditation while he tried to figure out how to make things right with the woman he loved.
A hand clapped him on the good shoulder as Zack took a seat beside him.
“That was pretty sick,” Zack said.
Kade didn’t acknowledge him.
Zack held his hand out for Kade to shake. “I feel like we got off on the wrong foot.”
Kade didn’t even look at the hand.
“I listened to her talk about you for months. I already understand her version of you. I’ll never understand why she loves you, but I understand you. I’m Zack. I’m regarded as an asshole because I’ll tell you exactly what is on my mind, and when it comes time to make decisions I do what is right without considering feelings.”
“I’m not looking to be friends,” Kade said, glaring at his hand.
“Neither am I. I just want you to understand, I respect you for what you are. But you don’t use a screwdriver to do a hammer’s job, regardless of how nice the screwdriver is. I get that you don’t like the idea of her going into danger without you, but I’ll be with her. I’ve watched her back before, and I love her as much as you do.”
Kade turned toward Zack, wanting to throttle his throat.
“Relax, Congo. All her love belongs to you. But I’ll give my life before I let harm come to her. So, man to man, I’ll keep her safe. Just do your best to make things right before you leave, so I don’t have to worry about her thinking when she should be acting,” Zack said.
Kade sat for a full thirty seconds, letting his brain process Zack’s words. It wasn’t his ideal situation. Sending Tiny off alone with a man who just told Kade about his feelings for her didn’t seem like a wise option. But it did mean she would be protected. And the only way Kade could make things right is if she came out of the mission alive.
Kade took Zack’s hand and gave it solid pump. He’d do better to make an ally than an enemy.
“For what it’s worth, I’ve always been sorry she loved me,” Kade said.
“Trust me, she never told me anything that would make me believe you deserved her. But it doesn’t change that you’re the only person she has ever loved. And if she hadn’t, she wouldn’t be alive today. I like to believe everything happens for a reason,” Zack said.
A few months ago, when Kade first met Grace’s family on the road, her oldest brother, who later tried to kill Kade, asked him if he was a man of fate or coincidence. It had stuck with Kade ever since. Every flip that had landed tails for Kade had turned out to have a heads along with it. He still believed the world was ruled by coincidence, but fate was starting to get a stronger piece of the pie.
“Take care of her, please,” Kade said.
“We both know she doesn’t need taking care of, but I’ll keep my eye on her. Just promise me you’ll never take her for granted. She deserves someone better than either of us,” Zack said.
He couldn’t agree with Zack more. “Deal,” Kade said.
X and Tiny’s footsteps could be heard coming through the trees.
“I’m going to go nod off,” Zack said, getting up.
“Thanks for the talk,” Kade said.
Kade was surprised he actually felt better. Zack did profess his love for Tiny, but at least Kade knew where they stood now. Zack was a self-proclaimed asshole, but he wasn’t a snake in the grass. Kade felt better knowing he’d have her back.
“I hear you need stitching,” Tiny said as she approached Kade, who hadn’t moved from where he was kneeling.
Kade held up his bandaged wrist, which had already bled through.
“What am I going to do with you?” Tiny said with a tight-lipped smile.
Kade smiled back as she undid the bandage.
“You’re going to have to grin through this,” Tiny said as she prepped her gear.
“I’ve survived worse,” Kade replied.
Tiny gave a nod. “I wish you would stop trying to set a new record.”
“I’m not trying.”
“You could have shot every foamer there and taken no risk.”
“I thought about it, but we aren’t that far from DC. I didn’t think it would be wise to attract attention.”
The needle slid through Kade’s flesh, and he did his best not to move. She
surveyed him to see how he was handling the pain.
Kade gave her a smirk. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the Primal Age,” Kade said.
“Funny thing to be happy about.”
“As much as I wish I could have let myself be yours in the Old World, it wasn’t going to happen. I needed this to get out of my own way.” He paused. “I’m sorry I fought you about staying behind.”
Her fingers made another pass at the wound, sealing it a little more.
“Then I’m glad for the end of the world too.”
“And I am sorry I got mad about Zack. I can’t get mad at you for having a past when it’s my fault you have one in the first place.”
“Kade, stop,” Tiny said, and paused her stitch. “I don’t want to hear it. You’re making this sound like I’m not coming back.”
“I don’t want to take a chance—”
“Jesus, Kade, I’m mad at you. You’re mad at me. This is what happens in relationships. Tomorrow, when I haul our stupid friends’ asses out of jail, we can fight it out and have makeup sex. Today, I want to focus on the task at hand,” Tiny replied.
With this being Kade’s first relationship, he was still adjusting to what was normal. He didn’t like the idea that she might not make it back, but he hated the idea that she would go in there while they were fighting.
Drew had educated them well on the ins and outs of the president and his men. He had a thousand soldiers to patrol a few square miles. Even though there were resistance efforts, the president didn’t stretch himself out beyond the boundaries of his territory. He was calm and calculating, a complete one-eighty from the man who hadn’t gotten Kade’s vote.
Drew had made maps of DC for each of them. The kid had shown such promise. The amount of initiative he had used during his time with the president’s men had shown what a logical person he had been. The best he could do for Drew now was to get Jem out to take over care of the kids, and he couldn’t even do that. The best thing he could do was stay out of the way.
“Can I at least hear the plan?” Kade asked.
Tiny ran a salve over his stitches. The immediate cooling effect felt wonderful.
“Heading in from the west. We’ll do a quick recon, then run a diversion. We will run up the Potomac River. When the soldiers come out, we’ll go in,” Tiny said.
“Shouldn’t you guys take more time to survey the situation?”
“We’re not going to be stupid about it, but we only have a couple nights left. If we need more recon, we will wait. If we can take it, it’ll be tonight,” Tiny replied.
“Once you’re in?”
“Just slip through the darkness to the Smithsonian Castle. Break in, break out. Then drop into the metro tunnels and haul ass to Number Five.”
“Seems simple enough.”
“The fewer moving parts, the less things can break. By the way, I am so pissed at you for researching foamers like you have been.”
Kade let out a single laugh.
“They deserve the fair shake,” Kade said.
“It was really hot. But I’m still pissed.”
Kade looked into Tiny’s eyes. They had retaken the same fireside warmth he was used to. It was good to know she was only pissed on principle.
“How can I make it up to you?”
“Well, I’ve got in this bad habit of falling asleep with some asshole who never listens to me, and now I have trouble sleeping by myself. I need to get some rest before sunset. Think you could help me out?” Tiny asked.
Kade pulled her into a kiss.
* * *
To John, the room looked like an action hero’s wet dream. Weapons were stacked, leaning, and hanging everywhere. The dressers were filled with small arms and ammo. The closets were loaded with rifles. They had everything from military-grade to children’s pellet guns. John remembered the first time he had been in this room and felt completely overwhelmed by the arsenal. Later that day, he had accidently shot Kade.
Emma stood against the wall just inside the door, as if she were trying to stay as far away from the weapons as possible. She hadn’t spoken since they came into the room. John didn’t think he would ever had met someone as afraid of the room as he had been, but she looked like she would have been more comfortable in a pit of cobras.
Pulling open the bottom drawer of one of the dressers, John found the air rifle. It fired BBs and was powered by manually compressing air. It was the simplest gun he could teach someone to use, but the weapon wouldn’t kill anything much larger than a rabbit.
He grabbed the gun and got to his feet as Grace appeared in the doorway.
“Can you give me a hand with some repairs on the furnace?” Grace asked.
Emma had a look like she was postponing her execution.
“Sure, but not right now. I promised Emma I’d teach her how to shoot. Once I—as soon as I teach her the basics, I’ll come find you,” John said.
Grace noticed Emma standing there. “Never mind. I’ll ask Dr. Wright. Fenris needs to go out if you guys are going down.”
Grace disappeared as fast as she had arrived. John didn’t mean to cause a brash reaction from Grace, nor was he proud that he seemed to be learning how to play the game, but it was a nice feeling to have the power paradigm shift a little.
John loaded his pockets with containers of BBs, then retrieved his bow. He had Emma climb down the ladder before he went through a process he hated, but not as much as Fenris did. Rex and the cheetah were small enough that they could be hauled down in someone’s pack. Fenris wasn’t as lucky. She was strapped into a hiking harness pack and hooked to one of their many pulleys. John then had to force her out the window, where he lowered her a few feet at a time, all the way to the ground.
It was tiring, time-consuming, and terrifying. By the time John got Fenris to the ground, he understood why Grace had him take the dog along.
Once John had climbed down he led them to the south wall, where they were building the solid line of cars. There were a few cars that had been left along the wall but not put into place. John had hoped to be able to multitask.
Fenris took off like a black streak, bounding all over the campus but never staying out a sight for long. John couldn’t blame her—she was confined much more lately with Jem and Kade gone, and it must have been nice to have a respite from being a mother.
When they reached the wall, which was almost three-quarters the width of the campus, John pulled a small can of orange spray-paint from his pocket and made a pie plate–sized circle on the door of a black Honda. He showed Emma how to load and pump the rifle first. She seemed more nervous to hold the gun than John felt talking to Grace.
“It isn’t going to bite you,” John said as he turned her body to take the stock to her shoulder.
“I just don’t like it,” Emma said.
“Just relax. You’ll get more comfortable over time,” John said.
Emma broke into booming laughter. “I think my first boyfriend told me the same thing.”
“He showed you how to fire a gun?”
Emma glanced over her shoulder, and John got the impression she was searching him for something. “You aren’t kidding?”
“No?”
An ear-to-ear grin took over Emma’s face. “You could say he showed me how to fire a gun.”
“Why don’t you show me what he taught you?”
“You poor boy,” Emma said, and pressed her back into John’s front. The hand she had on the barrel of the rifle she dropped to her side. John wondered if this was some sort of English form of firing a rifle, but then he felt her hand climbing up his leg.
Panic spiked in John’s brain as he pushed her so hard away from him, she almost fell on her face, then dropped the rifle.
“Bloody hell, John. You could have just said no,” Emma said, snatching the rifle from the ground.
“I’m stupid. I mean, sorry. I’ve never done anything like that,” John said.
“Never?” She raised an eyebrow.
John shook his head. Never. Not even a kiss. But he didn’t want to say that out loud.
“Why don’t we just forget about that for now, and you teach me how to use this stupid thing?” Emma said, approaching him.
John stood behind her, giving a few inches of space, and showed her how to place her hands and how to aim down the sights. She gently pulled the trigger as he instructed, but as the rifle fired, Emma jumped back into John. The BB hit nowhere close to the orange circle.
John put his hands on her shoulders and stood a little farther behind her so he could see along the barrel.
“Just focus on the target. Let everything else fade away,” John said.
She pulled the trigger, and John had to catch her in his arms as she jumped at the sound of the air rifle. His arms were tight around her waist, and he could feel her heartbeat rapidly resonating through her body.
He steadied her again, trying not to think about how she felt in his arms, and had her take another shot. She was still way off target, but it was a start. Disappointment coursed through him when she didn’t jump back into his arms.
After a half hour, she had the process down and was putting more in the orange than she wasn’t. He left her to keep practicing while he pushed a car into the wall. While pushing the car from the trunk, he came up with an idea and added an orange circle to the driver’s door.
He explained to Emma how to lead a target and instructed her on how to hit the target as it moved past. Then John pushed the car as fast as he could. His feet bent against the pavement as he locked his shoulders and charged forward. Building speed, he cleared the wall to where Emma was waiting.
The rifle fired, and a deafening echo sounded from his nose. The sting penetrated through his entire body as he covered the bridge of his nose and felt warm blood running into his hands. The car rolled to a stop, and Emma was by his side.
Strays Page 10